This application is based upon and claims priority of Korean Patent Applications Nos. 98-28661 filed Jul. 15, 1998, 98-37103 filed Sep. 9, 1998, 98-41974 filed Oct. 8, 1998, and 98-47822 filed Nov. 9, 1998 the contents being incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adaptor, such as an adaptor for adapting a disc having an 8-cm diameter to be accommodated by a disc drive intended for a disc having a 12-cm diameter, and more particularly, to an adaptor which includes a sensor hole determining the size of the disc, and to a method and an apparatus for driving the adaptor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, optical discs are categorized roughly as discs having a diameter of 8-cm (hereinafter referred to as 8-cm discs) and discs having a diameter of 12-cm (hereinafter referred to as 12-cm discs). Usually, the discs of different diameters are used in disc drives intended exclusively to accommodate their respective sizes. Recently, however, adaptability of the disc drive has become the important factor which determines its marketability. Accordingly, a strong demand has arisen for using an 8-cm disc as well as a 12-cm disc in the disc drive intended only for use by 12-cm discs.
To meet such a demand, an adaptor has been developed. The adaptor includes a body having the same size as a 12-cm disc cartridge which accommodates the 12-cm disc, and a disc holder to hold the 8-cm disc into the body of the adaptor while supporting the 8-cm disc. Thus, when the 8-cm disc is fixed to the disc holder which is inserted and placed in the adaptor body, the 8-cm disc can be used in the 12-cm disc drive in the adaptor which has the same size and construction as the 12-cm disc cartridge.
One example of a conventional adaptor is shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the construction of a conventional disc adaptor. In FIG. 1, element 1 is an adaptor body, element 2 is a disc, element 3 is a disc holder, and element 4 is a cover.
As shown in FIG. 1, the adaptor body 1 has the same size as a 12-cm disc cartridge. The disc holder 3 in which the disc 2 is fixed is inserted into the adaptor body 1. The adaptors have the same size and construction as the 12-cm disc cartridge. The only difference between the adaptors and the 12-cm disc cartridge is that the 8-cm disc is accommodated in the adaptors.
The disc holder 3 is formed with a first, second, and third support sections 3a, 3b, and 3c, respectively, for supporting the disc 2. The first, second, and third support sections 3a, 3b, and 3c, respectively, support the disc 2 from three points below the disc 2. When the disc holder 3 is inserted into the adaptor body 1 and the cover 4 is closed, the disc 2 is accommodated in the adaptor body 1.
The disc 2, when accommodated in the adaptor body 1, needs to be rotatable while the disc 2 is loaded on a turn table (not shown) of the disc drive. Accordingly, a predetermined gap between the disc holder 3 and the disc 2 should be maintained. Thus, the disc 2, which is supported by the first, second, and third support sections 3a, 3b, and 3c, is enabled to move.
Since the movement of the disc 2 is not restricted by the disc holder 3, however, the disc 2 may be separated from the disc holder 3 and fall while the disc holder 3 is being inserted or detached into/from the adaptor body 1. As a result, the disc 2 may be broken or damaged. Particulary when the disc 2 is separated from its intended position, i.e., when the disc 2 is in the wrong position while the turn table is driven, the information of the disc 2 may be severely damaged.
Further, since the conventional disc adaptor 5 has no structure or apparatus for determining the sizes or the status of the discs 2 in the disc drive, the information recording and/or reproducing process is occasionally lengthened.
Still further, the conventional disc drive has no apparatus for determining whether the device in the disc drive is an adaptor accommodating an 8-cm disc, or an 12-cm disc cartridge, when such a function is strongly required for rapid information recording and/or reproducing with respect to the respective discs. Accordingly, the time for recording and/or reproducing the information is lengthened.
The present invention has been developed to overcome the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a disc accommodating adaptor for securely protecting a disc by restricting the movement of the disc when the disc is fixed in a disc holder, while releasing the disc when the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disc accommodating adaptor including sensor holes and a sensor hole opening/closing controller so that the disc drive easily determines status information of the disc accommodated in the adaptor body. The status information includes the size, whether the disc has been verified or not, whether the disc has been certified or not, etc.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for driving the disc accommodating adaptor which includes the sensor holes and the sensor hole opening/closing controller.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for driving the disc accommodating adaptor which includes the sensor holes and the sensor hole opening/closing controller according to the method thereof.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a disc accommodating adaptor which includes an adaptor body, and a disc holder inserted into the adaptor body supporting a disc. An elastic press is extended from the disc holder, and elastically supports the disc to prevent a movement of the disc until the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body. Additionally, a release is provided in the adaptor body to release the disc from the elastic press when the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body.
The elastic press is formed on opposite sides of the disc holder to press the disc toward a center of the disc.
The release includes a projection integrally formed on an leading edge of the elastic press, and an intervening member which is disposed in the adaptor body. The intervening member pushes the projection outward by slidably contacting with the projection when the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body, to push the elastic press which is pressing the disc toward opposite sides of the disc.
The disc accommodating adaptor according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an adaptor body, a disc holder inserted into the adaptor body supporting a disc, an elastic press extended from the disc holder elastically supporting the disc to prevent the movement of the disc until the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body, a release releasing the elastic press when the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body, a lock holding the disc holder in a predetermined position with respect to the adaptor body; and an unlocker unlocking the disc holder from the adaptor body.
The lock includes a pair of elastic locking projections disposed on opposite sides of the disc holder to be elastically biased outward, and a pair of locking recesses defined in the adaptor body to correspond with the pair of elastic locking projections, respectively.
The unlocker includes a pair of pressing members having protrusions to contact with the elastic locking projections of the disc holder after passing through the locking recesses, respectively.
The disc accommodating adaptor according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a gripping section formed on the disc holder, and an opening defined on the front side of the adaptor body. As a result, the gripping section is positioned outside of the adaptor body. Accordingly, the user is able to detach the disc holder from the adaptor body easily, by simply gripping and pulling out the gripping section of the disc holder while pressing the pressing members which are formed on opposite sides of the adaptor body. Additionally, an imprinted part may be formed on the gripping section to indicate the side one and the other side of the disc.
Accordingly, the disc is turned to be rotatable or restricted in movement, in response to the inserting or withdrawing actions of the disc holder with respect to the adaptor body, so that the disc may not be separated unexpectedly when replaced.
Further, since the possibility of inserting the wrong side of the disc into the adaptor is decreased, the damages to the disc caused by inserting wrong side of the disc are prevented.
Another object of the present invention is accomplished by providing a disc accommodating adaptor which includes at least one sensor hole used for determining the size of the disc accommodated in the adaptor body via the disc holder. The sensor hole may be one of either A1, A2, A3 sensor holes, or a recording prevention hole suggested by the DVD-RAM standard. Further, the sensor hole may be a combination of sensor holes from the A1, A2, A3 sensor holes, and the recording prevention hole. Also, the sensor hole may be an additional separate hole.
The disc accommodating adaptor according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention further includes a controller controlling the opening/closing of the sensor hole according to the size of the disc.
The disc accommodating adaptor according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an adaptor body, a disc holder inserted into the adaptor body supporting a disc, an elastic press extended from the disc holder elastically supporting the disc to prevent a possible movement of the disc until the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body, a release releasing the elastic press when the disc holder is inserted into the adaptor body, a lock holding the disc holder in a predetermined position with respect to the adaptor body, a plurality of sensor holes used for determining the status of the disc which is received in the adaptor body, a controller selectively opening/closing the sensor holes according to the determined size and status of the disc, and an unlocker unlocking the disc holder from the adaptor body.
The sensor holes include an A1 sensor hole used for determining whether to proceed to the recording surface verifying process of the disc when the recording process is performed, an A2 sensor hole used for determining whether the disc is single-sided or double-sided, an A3 sensor hole used for determining the size of the disc, and an information prevention hole used for determining whether the information prevention function has been selected. Initially, the A1 and A3 sensor holes are in the open state, while the A2 sensor hole and the information prevention hole are in the closed state. Using the forgoing holes, a disc drive of the present invention determines whether the disc is a recordable disc having a diameter of 8-cm which requires the recording surface verification process.
The sensor hole opening/closing controller may be formed at the A1 sensor hole, A2 sensor hole and/or the information prevention hole, respectively. The sensor hole opening/closing controller includes a pair of movement rails formed in the adaptor body, inclusive of the sensor hole, an opening/closing member slidably disposed in the movement rail to selectively open/close the sensor hole, and a holder holding the opening/closing member in a position to which the opening/closing member is moved.
The position holder includes a position holding projection protruded from an upper one side of the opening/closing member, and a first and second position holding grooves, defined in the adaptor body, receiving the position holding projection, the first and second position fixing grooves being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance which corresponds with a traveling stroke of the opening/closing member.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the size and status of the recordable surface of the disc can be rapidly and easily determined by a plurality of sensor holes, and the user is enabled to use the disc drive more efficiently within a relatively shorter period of time because the user may not select unnecessary steps such as the verification process, etc. but may directly proceed with the information recording process by manually opening/closing the sensor holes according to such a determined status of the disc.
A further object is accomplished by providing a method for driving an adaptor accommodating a recordable/reproducible disc according to the present invention. The forgoing method of the present invention includes the steps of determining whether a disc size determining sensor hole of the inserted adaptor is opened, and determining that the adaptor accommodating a disc of an 8-cm diameter is inserted when the disc size determining sensor hole is opened, while determining that a cartridge accommodating a disc of a 12-cm diameter is inserted when the disc size determining sensor hole is closed.
Another of the objects of the present invention is accomplished by providing an apparatus for driving an adaptor accommodating a recordable/reproducible disc. The apparatus of the present invention includes a sensing switch to be selectively inserted into a disc size determining sensor hole of the inserted adaptor so as to be turned on/off and to transmit corresponding signals regarding open/closed states of the disc size determining sensor hole to a microcomputer. After determining whether a disc size determining sensor hole of the inserted adaptor is open, it is determined that the adaptor accommodating a disc of an 8-cm diameter is inserted when the disc size determining sensor hole is opened, or that a cartridge accommodating a disc of a 12-cm diameter is inserted when the disc size determining sensor hole is closed. Accordingly, the disc drive prepares the information recording and/or reproducing process according to the status of the disc determined via the disc size determining sensor hole.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.